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StreetBeast rod kit's

405K views 1K replies 141 participants last post by  Gwinnetts 
#1 ·
I am planning on building my 1st street rod. The StreetBeast kit's look interesting. Anyone have any experience/references with these? Thanks. Don
 
#502 · (Edited)
JGK95 said:
......If a person like centerline doesn't have the first hand business dealings with Street Beasts, then he is reduced to only offering an Opinion.
You forgot to mention the fact that its an educated opinion. I've been following CMC/Street Beast's escapades for almost 20 years. I've toured their (CMC's) facility and personally knew a couple CMC employees. Don't tell me I don't know anything about the company.

JGK95 said:
......To constantly badger and berate new members with this opinion repeatedly, is very, VERY unprofessional and unbecoming of a "moderator".
Once again you can't argue the point without attacking me personally. I badgered you? Thats interesting. You are the one who continues to resort to name calling, and you are the one who is consistently berating ME personally. I have not called you names (other than novice and inexperienced) nor have I attacked you personally except to say that I thought your purchase was ill-advised. It would appear based on your recent posts that you are doing a good job learning "spin techniques" from your buddies at StreetBeast.

JGK95 said:
......Moderators are supposed to be impartial. You know what the old Grandmothers said..."If you have nothing nice to say, don�t say it."
And exactly where is THAT written in the rules?? Moderators are expected to administer the rules and deal with everyone equally, not be opinion-less. I'm so sorry that you don't understand this simple philosophy, but I'll chalk that up to youth and inexperience.

JGK95 said:
......As a First hand participant in dealings with Street Beasts, they've been nothing but cordial and receptive to my questions and comments to date.
Like I said earlier, I lived less than 5 minutes from CMC's facility when it was located just north of Ft. Lauderdale. The same one where Grampa Cobra said the "Speedster" was stolen from the roof. I toured the facility back then and what I saw was anything but impressive to say the least. What is really surprising is that they are using the same basic design even now.

JGK95 said:
......It's that one guy that I've mentioned above who's ruining the experience for me.
Why is that??? Have you run out of names to call me or something???? Only time will tell.
 
#503 ·
After reading this entire thread, I have decided to forgo my plans on building a kit car(you can't trust anyone it seems), and do a body off restore on my own car. It's a complete 1973 Ford Grand Torino Sport, 351 4V factory Nascar 4 speed trans, with a 9 inch rear end.

I will also continue to work on Factory Fiberglass show cars, and solid metal HP Classics, along with any other vehicle that comes along.

I really had a life long dream of building a hotrod/kit car, and thought streetbeasts had a reasonable product. Thank you all for enlightening me on their supply/quality problems. Their responses are something to be acknowledged, as Jon has pointed out.

As for Jay K, Good luck to You and your Father in this build. There are so many people on this website that are willing to help, in any phase of this build, including myself when it comes to fine tuning. Just keep open minded, and let Centerline try to help.

Stephen
 
#504 · (Edited)
It just seems to me that the Streetbeasts reps ( Optsman abd Grandpa Cobra) have missed a golden opportunity here to set things straight and help their companys reputation, instead thier spin has done nothing but hurt their company. The main thing in my mind is JGK95's recent purchase of a Streetbeast kit. He recieved the kit and has found that he has a defective hub. Streetbeasts could have used this forum to show the world how good their customer service was by replacing this hub no questions asked...but they did not. Instead Optsman say they will take care of it and then GrandapaCobra tells us that he has talked to JGK95 by phone and has told him something to try, but does not tell us what that was.. JGK95 tells us that he has taken a Dremel tool and enlarged the bolt holes in his wheels so he can get the wheel on the hub...and then says that he is going to over torque the lug nuts in an attempt to re-align the lug studs in the hub. Folks...if the wheel will not go on the hub without enlargeing the holes in the wheel something is wrong...either bent studs or the studs were pressed in the hub crooked or the hub holes were drilled crooked. An attempt to pull them into alignment by over tightening the lug nuts is really unaccepable because if it works you have either bent the studs into alignment or you have pulled the studs straight in the holes in the hub therefore distorting them. This it might work theory is not good at 75 mph when a wheel gets loose or even worse comes off. You can trick a lot of things on a car but you should not try to trick anything that has safety involved. Grandpa Cobra says that its not Streetbeasts fault because they did not make the hub ...that they buy them from a supplier. Well it is thier fault too because the hub was furnished in their kit. The hub should be replaced no questions asked and then Streetbeast can go to the supplier for re-embursement. If I was JGK95 I would expect a new replacement hub from Streetbeast and if they would not send me one I would go buy a new one from another source. So far niether one of the two guys from Streetbeasts have posted anything on this forum saying what they are going to do about this issue and JGK95 has not told us what they have told him either. So there it is...you can see the oportunity missed here to show all of us looking in how reputable etc. Streetbeast is and how they are trying to build a good image to the Hotrod world. Instead all we see is spin and deception. JGK95...I wish you the very best with your build.
 
#505 ·
The lack of words on the hub issue speaks MUCH louder than the tens of thousands of words in there posts in this thread!

Centerlines "acusations" may not be learned from personal experiance, but "experiance" non the less. He experianced it right here with us!

Poor quality kit....proof right here with the junk hub.

Poor customer service..PROOF right here with how it was handled.

They will be changing their name again, just watch!

Brian
 
#506 ·
I called a painter friend of mine, all he does is street rods and custom cars/bikes..


He said he went to look at a fairly new streetbeast car , to give the guy a quote...He said he did not want to paint the car, the waves in the panels were that bad. The guy did not want to spend any money on bodywork, as he said he was sure that all it needed was a "little blocking". OOooooo-k.
He did say the doors lined up good though. :thumbup: He also said he has patched up a few Street beast bodies where the trunk openings had cracked on all 4 corners. 3/8 fiberglass didn't help there , did it?


So one more guy with no experience buying a kit from Streetbeast, but has valuable experience to share with those who might..


later, mikey
 
#507 · (Edited)


powerrodsmike said:
He also said he has patched up a few Street beast bodies where the trunk openings had cracked on all 4 corners. 3/8 fiberglass didn't help there , did it?
later, mikey
I know!!!!! I was not going to say no more....But I couldn't help this one... :)

Mikey... I know all about the patch work on a street beast.This is some of the holes in the car.(''SOME OF THE HOLES'')... :sweat:
 

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#513 ·
I wish I could find my pictures of the right quarter I had to cut off and replace. It was flared out, badly. It ended up not being a difficult repair, but sure was a pain in the wooohooo.

I expected them to give me crap about having to replace it, but I will give it to them, they sent me a left and right quarter, even received it in 3 days. Only needed the right.

On several occasions, I had some nasty words with them, one in particular and guy named Ben. I normally do not remember names, but he really had me pissed off a few times. Ended up dealing with someone else, and things were straightened out. (These words were about other things: door hinges - sucked, did not align, ended up making my own, even with their replacements they sent me; decklid - warped, absolutely no way to align that bad boy, they sent me a new one, after yelling & cussing; let's see, oh, I stupidly paid an extra amount of money to have the body partially prepped for paint, take a look to see all of the filler from one end to the next, another part of the project that ended up good, but not because of them).

I did not have to put the floor in, that was done, nice job of it too. They did slip me some extras, although minor and no big deal, power windows installed, an interior kit that looked like crap and no way in heck it would go in anything I own.

I had good and bad experiences, but overall, I feel o.k. with all of it now, I have a car that runs like a raped ape, people seem to really take to it, its a blast to drive, a pain to load/unload on a trailer (too low, but I love it anyway), always puts a smile on my face - even when it is being like a temper-mental woman...

That is my take. I do not worry about the past so much, always looking out for the future. If someone does not like the car, not my problem. I will state, people ask if it is a Street Beast, and even when they find out it is, they really complement it, and its quality - not just saying that either.

Sorry for the rambling, its really raining like crazy now... I think this is better than playing in the rain.

Jason
 
#514 ·
They must talk to everyone that way.I was trying to get a MSO for my car,And I called to ask about my MSO.Talked to ''MR MARTY'' and tech support.And asked him If I had to do anything,And he said: All I had to do is just stand there and look stupid.Even I can do that!!! That's what he told me on the phone. :spank: I do thank them with helping me out with the MSO,But if I could have reached though that phone I would have.... :smash: Never mine!!!!But I did make a promise that one day I will take my family on a little vacation to FL.And will make a little stop in to get to know ''MR MARTY'' a little better.If you know what I mean. :mwink:
 
#517 ·
Henry,

For the Love of God, please write in paragraph form! I read a brick back there of text! :D

THE FIX:

Mike S. aka Grandpa Cobra recommended the following:
1. Remove the wheel.
2. Take a wide 1/2 washer and a wheel nut flipped upside down and use a socket wrench to tighten the wheel nut until the wheel nut and washer are flush to the hub/rotor. Doing this should properly align the lug within the hub.
3. Remove both inverted wheel nut and washer and attempt to remount the wheel once both lugs have been realigned.
4. Once the wheel is remounted all is good.

I'm sorry I don't have any pics at this moment of the hub, but upon close up inspection, (of which pictures will be posted) the hub appears to be safe and normal. If the lugs within the hub were even at a 15 degree angle, of course I'd be upset. But these were barely out of alignment and prevented me initially from mounting the wheel.

I do hope this helps those who are following my build.

Jay K.
 
#519 ·
JKG95...anyone with any amount of proper automotive knowledge KNOWS that you push the stud in from the rear of the hub, not pull it in from the front....DUH!!!!!


I can go into a real lengthy explanation of WHY, but suffice to say that if you were advised to pull a crooked stud straight with a lugnut, you were dealing with someone who DOES NOT KNOW how to do it right.


That's all I got to say about that.

Let it roll...


Mikey
 
#520 ·
Mikey,

As someone who's never dealt with hubs that contain lugs, (I only have experience with Modern cars) you have to understand this is all new to me. Trust me, I was frustrated when I didn't see a modern rotors and disk brakes but soon learned that this was the way things were done in the past. Well, I'm up for the challenge.
 
#521 ·
JGK95 said:
Henry,

For the Love of God, please write in paragraph form! I read a brick back there of text! :D

THE FIX:

Mike S. aka Grandpa Cobra recommended the following:
1. Remove the wheel.
2. Take a wide 1/2 washer and a wheel nut flipped upside down and use a socket wrench to tighten the wheel nut until the wheel nut and washer are flush to the hub/rotor. Doing this should properly align the lug within the hub.
3. Remove both inverted wheel nut and washer and attempt to remount the wheel once both lugs have been realigned.
4. Once the wheel is remounted all is good.

I'm sorry I don't have any pics at this moment of the hub, but upon close up inspection, (of which pictures will be posted) the hub appears to be safe and normal. If the lugs within the hub were even at a 15 degree angle, of course I'd be upset. But these were barely out of alignment and prevented me initially from mounting the wheel.

I do hope this helps those who are following my build.

Jay K.
Jay what he told you is the proper way to bottom out the studs if they are not pressed in all the way. To use that proceedure to re-align studs is a bad thing because in actuallity you are racking the stud in the hole and that distorts the hole...in essence making it a little out of round...this little bit of extra hole can cause the stud to rock and cause your wheel to loosen up or worse come off. I was a ASE Tech for over 38 years and I have been a hot rodder longer than that. It may not ever happen , but it is a possibility. Please do not use that hub.Please do not take a chance and run that hub. Sorry but I just never did like paragraphs. :D I can understand now why the Streetbeast guys did not want to publicly tell what they told you to do about the hub.
 
#522 ·
JGK95 said:
Mikey,

As someone who's never dealt with hubs that contain lugs, (I only have experience with Modern cars) you have to understand this is all new to me. Trust me, I was frustrated when I didn't see a modern rotors and disk brakes but soon learned that this was the way things were done in the past. Well, I'm up for the challenge.
Modern cars have hubs with lugs too. :) You should be frustrated with how Streetbeasts is handleing this...they are not being straight with you. They should have replaced the hub no questions asked. Very poor customer service and we already know from the way they conducted thierselves in this thread...very poor public relations.
 
#523 ·
I have a TCI Stage 3 chassis - which means that I spent way too much on a lot of useless chrome and stainless pieces. But with that said, TCI shipped these fancy shiny pieces packed improperly so many got some very significant gouges and scratches. They grumbled a bit - but everything - that is both sides worth of front suspension and calipers were replaced with new - with all cost at their expense. Probably $1500 worth.

I would expect that a company as "big" as the Street Beast orgainization says they are, should be able to afford a $50 (or less) hub

Dave W
 
#524 ·
JGK95 said:
Mikey,

As someone who's never dealt with hubs that contain lugs, (I only have experience with Modern cars) you have to understand this is all new to me. Trust me, I was frustrated when I didn't see a modern rotors and disk brakes but soon learned that this was the way things were done in the past. Well, I'm up for the challenge.
It is not your inexperience that worries me, it is the response that you got from someone who is supposed to be an authority on the stuff they sell. It is a good thing that you have access to experienced people here on the board that will give you unbiased , correct information.

Later, mikey
 
#525 ·
Jay.........You have to take the position you have because you already have the Beast........Nobody wants to give you a Hard time......It's just that the "End" result of your Time and Money would have been better spent on a conventional Body/Chassis combination.......That's all........"We have BEEN there and DONE That".........We are just trying to be Helpful....

Ken
 
#526 · (Edited)
Jay... its really too bad that all this mess had to come up simply because you and your dad wanted to build a hot rod together,, kinda throws a shadow on the whole idea, doesn't it? this build would have been a experience you could cherish forever, but now you will have bad memories , because a lot of people have made it their business to inform you about what a POS[ THEY BELIEVE] you decided to purchase. even tho they have NEVER built this car themselves, just self described experts in building cars,
I hope your dad and you can put all this behind you and have the fun building your car the way YOU see fit, and enjoy your time together, thats more Important than building something that everyone else deems acceptable, To Me thats more important than what you build, He won't be around forever, so enjoy the time he is with you,,, this whole mess leaves a bad taste in my mouth,, I can just imagine how you and your dad are feeling :thumbup: have fun
 
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